As large and as iconic a company as Google is, this dispute is about a lot more than who helps the Chinese organise the internet. Far from yielding to pressure, diplomatic or commercial, the Chinese Government believes itself to be the custodian of a model of capitalism that is a competitor to the form found in the Western liberal democracies. The belief that freedoms and rights are mere luxuries that hamper economic growth has, since it was first formulated by Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, cemented authoritarian capitalism as an alternative route to prosperity. A shift from a Western to an Eastern model is currently taking place in Russia. Full Story
Authority against liberty
Times Online, 14 Jan 2010
As large and as iconic a company as Google is, this dispute is about a lot more than who helps the Chinese organise the internet. Far from yielding to pressure, diplomatic or commercial, the Chinese Government believes itself to be the custodian of a model of capitalism that is a competitor to the form found in the Western liberal democracies. The belief that freedoms and rights are mere luxuries that hamper economic growth has, since it was first formulated by Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, cemented authoritarian capitalism as an alternative route to prosperity. A shift from a Western to an Eastern model is currently taking place in Russia. Full Story
As large and as iconic a company as Google is, this dispute is about a lot more than who helps the Chinese organise the internet. Far from yielding to pressure, diplomatic or commercial, the Chinese Government believes itself to be the custodian of a model of capitalism that is a competitor to the form found in the Western liberal democracies. The belief that freedoms and rights are mere luxuries that hamper economic growth has, since it was first formulated by Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, cemented authoritarian capitalism as an alternative route to prosperity. A shift from a Western to an Eastern model is currently taking place in Russia. Full Story
